Towel-case.



G. A. STEINER.

TOWEL CASE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 10. 1911.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. STEIN ER, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR 'I'O AMERICAN LINEN SUPPLY COMPANY, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION.

TOWEL-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

Application filed Oetobpr 10, 1917. Serial No. 195,807.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. STEINER,

a citizen of the United States, resident of Salt Lake City, county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel-Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a roller towel case and the object of the invention is to simplify and improve the construction of case now in use for feeding or delivering a section of a continuous towel to individual users.

A further object is to provide improved means for mounting the clean roll of toweling in the case and for utilizing the full length of the towel.

Other objects of the invention will appear I from the following detailed description.

The invention consists generally in various constructi ns and combinations, allas hereinafter cescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a towel case embodying my invention,

Fig.2 is a vertical s ectionalview of the s Fig, 3 is an outside view-of the driving mechanism,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the upper part of the casing, showingthe preferred position of the driving mechanism thereon, Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of one end of the towel roll, showing the manner of mounting the toweling thereon,

cross bar 8. 9 represents a measuring roll mounted in the upper part of the casing above the opening 6 andprovided with a shaft 10 having anoperating crank 11. [his roll has a coating of fine emery dust thereon to roughen its surface so that it will cling to the surface of the towel roll, as will hereinafter appear. Any other suitable material may be employed for roughening this surface.

particularly 12 is a guiding roll of the same diameter as the measuring roll, mounted in hearings in the wall of the casing, with its shaft 13 projecting outside said casing. A sprocket wheel 14 is mounted on the shaft 10 and a similar sprocket wheel 15 is mounted on the shaft 13 and driven through a sprocket purpose. This drive connection between the measuring roll and the guiding roll is preferably located onthe outside of the casing, as shown in Fig. 4, so that there will be no danger of the toweling being cut in the gearing and torn or soiled. A suitable cover 20 is provided for concealing and protecting this drive mechanism.

Above the measuring roll the side walls of the casing are provided with vertical slots 21 to receive gudgeons 22 of a roll 23 which is adapted to fit inside a tube 24 on which the strip of toweling 25 is wrapped at the laundry, the innerend of the roll of toweling being attached to the tube in any suitable manner. When the tube has been placed on the roll 23 and the roll inserted into the slots 21, its weight will cause'the roll of toweling to rest upon the measuring roll 9 by gravity and with sufficient pressure so that when the measuring roll is revolved,

sponding distance and the toweling unwound from the tube and delivered out through the opening 7 to the user.

I prefer to provide the casing with a the tube 24 will berevolved also a correshown in Fig. 1. When the tube of toweling is brought from the laundry and placed in the cabinet, the loose end of the towelstrip will be brought out through the opening 7 and buttoned to the strip 26 and the person first using the towel may grasp the end close to the button holes and thereby the full length of the toweling at that end may be utilized. The strip 26 passes up over the guide roll 12 and out through the opening .6 and as the measuring roll is revolved, a

corresponding movement will be imparted to the guiding roll through the drive mechanism heretofore described and the strip of used toweling will be fed over the 'roll 12 and down into the chamber 5, where it will accumulate in a pile while the cabinet is being used. When the end of the toweling is reached, it will be detached from the tube and another tube with clean toweling thereon may be substituted, while the soiled 15 strip in the chamber 5 may be removed and returned to the laundry.

The measuring roll 9 maybe varied in diameter to increase or decrease the feed of the towel. The length of the feed will correspond, of course, to the circumference of the measuring roll and when the towel ;has been adjusted for the first user, a similar amount will be fed out from the cabinet with each revolution of the crank. By mounting the measuring roll to contact di rectly with the towel roll, I am able to dispense with numerous intermediate gears and at the same timeefi'ect a uniform and re liable feed of the towel with each operation of the crank.

5 her in the lower part of the cabinet I provide a suitable basket or hamper 29 into which the toweling drops by gravity. In

other respects the operation of this devicev is substantially the same as described, the

40 measuring roll contacting with the towel .roll and positively feeding it to the user with each revolution of the crank.

In various ways the details of construction herein shown and described may be modified and still be within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A towel cabinet comprising a casing, a clean towel -rol1 mounted in the upper walls of said casing for quick insertion and removal and on which roll the clean towel is wound at the laundry, a measuring roll having an operating means mounted in said cabinet to contact with the clean towel roll and exert a pushing action thereon to revolve said roll and unwind the towel, a guiding r'oll mounted in said cabinet beneath said measuring roll and having a driving connection therewith for simultaneous movement and over which guiding roll the soiled towel is directed to the lower portion of said cabinet, said measuring roll being continuously in contact with the clean portion of the towel but out of contact at all times with the soiled portion thereof.

2. The combination, with a towel cabinet having slots in its upper walls, of a clean towel roll having its shaft mounted to slide in said slots for quick insertion into the cabinet and removal therefrom, said roll having a clean towel wound thereon at the laundry, a measuring roll mounted in said cabinet and contacting with the clean towel roll and having an operating crank and eX- erting a pushing action on said clean towel to unwind it from its roll, and said towel roll normally resting by gravity on said measuring roll, a guiding roll mounted in said cabinet beneath said measuring roll and over which the soiled portion of the towel is directed, said guiding roll being out of contact with the clean portion of the towel and having a driving connection with said measuring roll for simultaneous revolution therewith.

3. The combination, with a cabinet, of a towel roll mounted therein and on which the clean towel is wound at thelaundry, a v

measuring roll mounted to contact with said towel and revolve it to feed it out of said cabinet, a guiding means over which the soiled portion of the towel passes and a fabric strip secured at one end to said cabinet and passing over said guidmg means and having means for detachably connecting it to the loose end of said towel, whereby the entire length of the towel may be ut1 lized for wiping purposes.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of September, 1917'.

GEORGE A. STEINER. Witnesses:

THOMAS A. Lower, HOWARD S. POLLOCK. 

